Morning Routine: 2015

Happy New Year!For the first half of the year i will develop a solid morning routine. The morning routine encompasses three areas of my life that i consider vital. In completing these three things early in the morning, everything that i accomplish for the rest of the day is just a bonus.

When i previously tried to implement a routine, i tried to do it all at once. The result was that it was never established. This time i will go step by step, completing 21-day challenges along the way. The end result is the new routine.In creating the routine, i first asked myself the question, "what are the 3 most important things i could do each day to improve myself?" Naturally, Mind Body and Soul came to mind. These are the "internal" aspects of my six areas of focus.For mind, i'll create. Whether it be a blog post, 750words, an involved breakfast, or something else, i'll spend time creating each morning.For body, i'll either exercise or prep meals. The plan is to prep meals on Sundays and Wednesdays, strength train on Mondays and Thursdays, focus on mobility Tuesdays and Fridays, and do cardio on Saturdays.For soul, i'll meditate. I've yet to make meditation a habit so making it a part of a routine will help.To come up with the actual routine, i started at the end and worked backwards. In this case, it's 8:30am when i have to leave for work. I then plugged in all the essential activities, including things like breakfast and getting ready for work. It looks like this:8:30 - leave for work8:15 - work prep7:55 - breakfast7:45 - shower7:00 - exercise or meal prep6:25 - create6:15 - meditate6:10 - wake upThis routine is designed to work on the weekends too. I plan to wake up at 6:10 and go about my day just like any other. It's not until 8:15 that i will divert from the workday routine.With that said, my first challenge is to wake up at 6:10 each morning. I'll do one challenge per month. The caveat is that unlike my previous challenges, these won't end after 21 days. They'll build upon one another. By May, the full routine will be in place. The 6:10 alarm clock first rings on Monday. Stay tuned.